


Dying Fireflies

by Argonometra



Category: Exalted, Fate/stay night (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Near Death, Out of Character, Torture, the deathlords are not your friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 15:16:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8922097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argonometra/pseuds/Argonometra
Summary: Zouken's plan has unexpectedly fatal results, and Sakura is offered an opportunity. But is Oblivion's power any less tainted than her own?





	

Deep within the earth, worms struggled and writhed, devouring the Essence of their prey. They had done so for centuries, defiling all those sacrificed to them- transforming them, as acid transforms metal.

This time, it was a maiden they fed upon. Her spirit was brittle and fragile, unconsciously waiting for the final snap that would end her torment. With every painful moment, she drifted closer to a merciful death.

And then a voice rang out, echoing coldly through her mind.

_Look at you. Broken, useless, diseased. Chattel to the unworthy, to those who don’t possess half the potential **you** do. Abandoned by those who should have protected you. _

Even through the fog of Sakura’s dying mind, that jab -and the truth behind it- hurt.

_Used by cruel, avaricious men- and for what? To glorify **them,** to uphold **them,** a slave in your every waking moment to Their power- your own power! _

There was a silence, and a sigh that sounded deliberately exaggerated. But Sakura didn’t care. This argument was like many her dark side had made before, but somehow…it was so much _clearer_ now. Every word engraved itself on her heart, their truth shining like a full moon. In their light, even the darkness did not seem so dark anymore.

_What a pity, dear Sakura. What…a… **pity.**_

_But, you know…you could change that. You are lonely and afraid, but you could be great. Your family-_

There was a scornful laugh.

_- **all** the magical bloodlines- could be lost in your shadow. You could be limitless._

Dreams childish and magnificent, desires Sakura had never dared to speak to anyone, flickered past her mind’s eye in an instant. They passed too swiftly to have any real meaning, but- even in that terrible dying moment- she _wanted_ , more than she had ever wanted anything, to make them real.

_You have within you the strength to conquer Them. To abandon all weakness, all fear and all doubt, and make this torture nothing more than a passing shadow. You could destroy **all of this** , throw Them so far down in the world that even time will forget their names!_

_…And none would dare to attack you, ever again. You see? You could be loved. You could be Exalted above all others._

Sakura was awake now, awake as she had not been for some time. She felt alive. She could feel the magic surging in her veins, remember her life with clarity that strengthened her- and yet did not overcome her. To someone like Sakura, who had circled between horrific weakness and corrupted power, that control was intoxicating.

She had feared that clarity, once. Before the voice spoke to her.

Why had she been afraid? Why had she allowed Their hatred to _exist_ , ever?

She could not recall a reason.

Breathing in, she felt worms collapse down her tongue, become charcoal- and the burning of flames as they erupted from her body, cleansing the pit of life. It took only a second to burn all of Their work to cinders, leaving smoke and bitter emptiness where worms had once squirmed through the tainted earth.

Sakura thought she should have felt joy, but there was only a calm satisfaction in her.

_Well. That’s one less evil in the world._


End file.
